THETH EXPLORE
Theth National Park
Edith Durham, a famous English traveler, and writer on the Balkans visited the area in 1908. She wrote of its seclusion: ‘I think no place where human beings live has given me such an impression of majestic isolation from the entire world. It is a spot where the centuries shrivel; the river might be the world’s well-spring, its banks the fit home of elemental instincts–passions that are red and rapid.
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Legend has it that Theth was founded 400 years ago by 6 brothers. Individual parts of the village still bear the names of these brothers. In a presentation at the International Peace Research Association, Antonia Young, an anthropologist who participated in a 2005 research project in Shala valley, suggested this ‘perceived family link’ could be the explanation for the unusually low levels of internal conflicts and blood feuds in Theth. According to Theth’s primarily Catholic inhabitants, the village was founded as a refuge to escape conversion to Islam by the Ottomans.
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After the Second World War and the country’s self-imposed isolation, access to the markets in Montenegro and Kosovo dried up. The fall of communism led to emigration and a declining population. Antonia Young’s team only found 17 families who reside in Theth year-round. Many of these depend on remittances from relatives who have sought employment elsewhere in Albania and abroad. The inhabitants of Theth receive very little government assistance. They lack electricity as well as telephone or radio communication with surrounding villages.
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Theth also contains 12 small mills and a functional hydro plant. During the period of March to November, Theth is visited by around 5000-10000 foreign tourists yearly.
The main streams of the valley are the brook of Shan Deda, the brook of the Sheep, the ones of Ded Lula, of Gurra, of Shkafi, of Vali, of the Border, and the stream of Belona. These streams flow in the mountainous territory and are precipitous during the winter. Theth has many springs that can serve as a water supply for tourists. You can virtually find water in every place you encroach in Theth, from the heights of mountains to the center and they also maintain considerable flow in all seasons of the year. Theth waters have permanent purity and very low temperatures. Their flow varies from 0.2 l/sec to 10 l/sec.
Moisture-laden warm air masses accumulate on the cool, high mountains, leading to comparatively high precipitation levels. The Park has a hostile climate in the winter with snowfalls that range from 1.5 meters in the lower part up to 3 meters in the higher part of the park. The park has an average of 2900-3000 mm rainfall per year. According to the season’s rainfalls are spread as follows: in spring 21%, in summer 9%, in autumn 32%, and in winter 38%. Mostly the rainfall is in the form of snow creating a stable covering for some months. With small investments, the hallways of the valley with stable snow can fulfill the standard dimensions of stadiums for applying winter sports.
The main species of mammals encountered here include deer, wolf, fox, brown bear, lynx, otter, wild pig, wild rabbit, wild goat, jackal, hedgehog, chamois, badgers, wild boar, and roe. The European brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a very shy creature and a rare sight in these parts; stones upturned during the hunt for small animals provide an occasional clue as to their presence. The Balcan chamois (Rupicarpa rupicarpa balcanica) is also native to the high mountains. Hunting animals are the wolf, hare, ibex, weasel, and fox. And in the river can be found the speckled trout, which is also one of the nicest fishes.
Bird species include the golden eagle, snake eagle, honey buzzard, peregrine falcon, capercaillie, rock partridge, scops owl, Eurasian eagle owl , and the snow finch. Among the amphibians, there is the alpine salamander (southernmost distribution), fire salamander,  yellow-bellied toad , and fire-bellied toad. The rich herpetofauna includes the fence lizard, green lizard, Greek tortoise , and snakes such as the true vipers including the poisonous horned viper and adder.